BOSTON -- Colin Poche couldn’t wait.

The traffic was building up and he had somewhere to be -- a very important place to be.

Checking the estimated arrival time, Poche had to make the call. He abandoned his ride and walked a mile … to make his Major League debut.

Yes, that is how Poche’s big league career began on Saturday afternoon prior to the Rays’ 5-1 loss to the Red Sox. Tampa Bay selected the 25-year-old left-hander from Triple-A Durham ahead of Game 2 of its doubleheader at Fenway Park and after its 9-2 win in Game 1.

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“I caught an Uber to the field once the [first] game was winding down,” Poche said. “The traffic wasn’t moving, so I just grabbed my bag and started walking through all of these Red Sox fans.

“I was sitting in the same spot for 10 minutes and I’m like, ‘I can’t be late for my first day.’ So I got out and walked close to a mile with my bag on my shoulder -- my big Rays bag -- and powered through.”

Poche turned heads as he maneuvered around oncoming foot traffic carrying gear from the opposing team.

“I got a couple weird looks, but nobody said anything,” he said.

This year, Poche competed for a spot in the Rays’ bullpen in Spring Training. He accumulated a 10.29 ERA over seven innings in eight games, and instead he began the season in Durham. Poche, Tampa Bay's No. 17 prospect per MLB Pipeline, was 2-2 with a 6.26 ERA in 20 Triple-A games prior to the callup.

“I took [Spring Training] as a learning experience so I could not repeat the same mistakes going forward,” he said.

Just a few hours after arriving at Fenway, Poche had to take another walk. This time, it was from the bullpen in right field to the pitcher’s mound to make his debut. Poche entered the game in the second inning in relief of opener Ryne Stanek and put his preparation to work.

“[My mind was] pretty blank,” Poche said. “I just kind of was looking around, and just kind of shocked by everything. … It’s a stadium that you always dream about. You always see it, it’s one of the classics. To be in it running to the mound was just kind of a surreal moment.”

Poche threw 21 of his 24 pitches for strikes, including fanning above-.300 hitters Xander Bogaerts and Rafael Devers. He finished his first outing with three strikeouts, two hits, two earned runs and no walks in 1 1/3 innings. Austin Pruitt inherited two baserunners from Poche, and both scored on a double by Michael Chavis.

“Really good,” manager Kevin Cash said. “It was really encouraging that we saw a lot of what we heard about last year while he was in Durham. He got roughed up in Spring Training, which was OK. I thought he had a lot of swing and miss, and just impressed by a young pitcher coming in in this atmosphere and just pounding the strike zone.”

Poche pitched primarily with a four-seam fastball, mixing in a slider, and averaged a pitch velocity of 92.1 mph.

The Red Sox hit Poche's pitches at an average 79 mph exit velocity.

“I felt pretty sharp,” Poche said. “I felt like I was locating my fastball. I felt like the hits I did give up weren’t really hit hard. I felt like I was able to throw it basically where I wanted to.”

Pitching has been a solid commodity for the Rays in this series against the Red Sox. They have used just eight pitchers in the first three games this weekend.

“[I am] definitely just going to look to the next outing, and look to go out there and feel good again,” Poche said.